The referenced U.S. Pat. No. 4,786,384, Gerhardt et al, assigned to the assignee of the present application, and the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference, describes an electrolytic cell for recovery of metal from metal ions contained within a processing liquid, such as an electrolyte, in which a plurality of planar parallel spaced electrodes are located in a trough. The cathodes have openings and, in dependence of the distance to the anode, connecting resistors of different connection resistance connect the cathodes to a current source, so that the current density applied to the respective cathodes will, essentially, be the same at all times.
To remove metal from the cathodes, it is necessary to remove the cathode elements, singly. This is comparatively time and labor consuming; the deposited metal also requires removal from the cathode which further consumes time and effort.
The referenced U.S. Pat. No. 2,865,830 describes an electrolytic arrangement to continuously make a ribbon, strip, foil or tape of copper from a solution containing copper ions, retained in a tank. The copper is deposited on the lower surface of a cathode roller which is rotatable about a horizontal axis. The entire arrangement requires substantial volume, since less than half of the circumferential surface of the cathode roller can be used for deposition of metal. The cathode current, due to the necessarily limited cathode current density, is likewise limited, based on the relatively small circumferential surface which dips into the solution.
The referenced U.S. Pat. No. 4,647,345, Polan, describes an electrolytic system for continuous manufacture of metal foils or strips from a solution retained in a tank, in which the metal is removed from a drum, or an endless belt, dipped in the solution. The region of the drum or belt in the solution is surrounded by an anode, formed with openings or ducts to permit electrolyte to pass. The metal deposited on the cathode is removed after leaving the solution. The cathode has a polished surface, for example of titanium or tantalum. The anode may be a lead-antimony alloy, and the solution is an acidic metal ion solution, for example copper sulfate and sulfuric acid.
The continuous removal of metal from the solution has been found to present problems, and chemically optimizing the process is difficult, if not impossible to achieve.